Expect the Southern Miss basketball team to feature a small lineup this season, especially at the beginning of the season. With only three players taller than 6-foot-6, Golden Eagles coach Doc Sadler only discussed two of those players during his opening statement Tuesday at media day.
Sadler said Tim Rowe, a 6-foot-11 redshirt sophomore, was a little out of shape coming back to school this fall, but he’s in the process of shedding the weight to get in game shape. Redshirt junior Eddie Davis III has been with the program for three years, but since his injuries, it only feels like this will be his second season with the team.
“We are going to have to play those two guys in one spot because neither one is in good enough shape to play together,” Sadler said. “So, we are going to be running small, especially early.”
Sadler expects Rowe to be ready to go fully when conference plays arrives, though, and redshirt junior Anfernee Hampton, who is listed as a 6-5 guard, will play what Sadler calls a “mismatch” position. That position is very similar to what former Golden Eagles stars Quinton Campbell and Kourtlin Jackson played the two seasons prior.
Rowe played in eight games last season and averaged 10 points per game, and Davis scored seven points per game in 30 appearances.
Hampton redshirted last year, so this will be his first season in a Southern Miss uniform, and Sadler likes his ability to shoot and get offensive rebounds. He’s not as skilled as Campbell was last year, but Sadler believes he’s a better shooter than the former Golden Eagle.
Freshman LaDavius Draine, a 6-4 guard from Calhoun City, will also play that spot on the floor, and Sadler said having those two players there will help with his team’s speed.
“It’s kind of the way basketball has gone with the mismatch position,” Sadler. “It may affect you a little on the defensive end, but I think you can do some things defensively to help yourself. Rebounding is definitely going to be a concern with that, but offensively the ball moves a lot better when you have that position. I’m pretty happy with that.”
Sadler compared the position to Draymond Green’s role with the Golden State Warriors. Obviously not the skill aspect, but the size and speed of a player compared to a normal four.
Of the five starting spots, Sadler said he has four starting positions figured out, and the top six players have really separated themselves. Southern Miss could be a good full-court defensive team, but since he doesn’t have a lot of bodies he trusts to put on the court, the team would be worn out quickly.
“I’ve always been a man-to-man coach, and we will continue to be that,” Sadler said. “We just still don’t have the depth to play full court. This team would really be a good full-court defensive team, but we would be worn out because we just don’t have the depth.
“To do that, you can only play some of those guys 29 to 31 minutes, and we need these guys to play 34 to 36 minutes a game.”
Junior Cortez Edwards, a 6-2 guard, is the team’s leading scoring returning from last season. He was second on the team a year ago with 11 points per game. Another returner, 6-1-redshirt junior Kevin Holland, started every game last season.
Two transfers who sat out last season, Tyree Griffin and Dominic Magee, should make an impact this year. Griffin is a 5-10 redshirt junior, who transferred from Oklahoma State, and he’s the only player on this roster with NCAA Tournament experience. Magee, a left-handed 6-4-redshirt junior, is as good of a scorer as any player Sadler said he has ever coached at USM.
Defensively with Magee, it’s still a work in progress, because he hasn’t played meaningful games in a few years.
“He can get you 20 points a game and give up 30 on the other end right now, so you’re only down 10,” Sadler joked. “But, he can score, and something as small as being left-handed really helps him.”
Southern Miss opens the season against Suno Friday, No. 10 at 7 p.m., then it’ll head to Michigan for a road game against the Wolverines the following Thursday for a 6 p.m. game.
